Posted 4 years ago on Jan. 21, 2013, 1:17 p.m. EST by quantumystic
(1710)
from Memphis, TN
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

Every four years, the American Society of Civil
Engineers (ASCE) publishes The Report Card
for America’s Infrastructure, which grades the
current state of the nation’s infrastructure categories on a scale of A through F. In 2009, the U.S.
infrastructure earned just a D average.

When the next Report Card is released in 2013, it will
provide an updated look at the state of U.S. infrastructure conditions, but there is also a larger
question at stake: How does a D for infrastructure affect America’s economic future?

ASCE’s Failure to Act economic report series shows the economic consequences of continued underinvestment in our nation’s infrastructure, and the economic gains that could be made by 2020 in terms of GDP, personal disposable income, exports, and jobs if we choose as a country to invest in our communities.

The culminating report was released on January 15, 2013 and presents an overall picture of the economic opportunity associated with infrastructure investment and the cost of failing to fill the investment gap.

ASCE finds that with an additional investment of $157 billion a year between now and 2020, the U.S. can eliminate this drag on economic growth and protect:

$3.1 trillion in GDP, almost the equivalent of Germany’s entire GDP
$1.1 trillion in U.S. trade value, equivalent to Mexico’s GDP
3.5 million jobs, more than the jobs created in the U.S. over the previous 22 months
$2.4 trillion in consumer spending, comparable to Brazil’s GDP
$3,100 in annual personal disposable income

This Failure to Act report answers the key
question of how the conditions of the United
States’ infrastructure systems affect the nation’s
economic performance. The Failure to Act report
provides this economic analysis by addressing 9
of ASCE’s 16 infrastructure categories that are
addressed in the 2013 Report Card.
Today, perhaps more than ever, economic performance is critical to the nation’s future.
The purpose of the Failure to Act report series
is to provide an analysis of the economic implications for the United States of continuing its
current investment trends in infrastructure. The
Failure to Act series analyzes two types of infrastructure needs:
★ Building new infrastructure to service
increasing populations and expanded economic activity; and
★ Maintaining or rebuilding existing infrastructure that needs repair or replacement.

yes this is just one way to create an economic boom and put millions to work. we should also close the corporate farms, break up the monopolies and the too big to fail/jails. put millions to work farming with permaculture practices and put millions more to work in mom and pop stores and restaurants as well as producers and manufacturers of high quality goods.

But there needs to be some kind of transition from the "American Dream" free market, which a great deal of people think they need and deserve. I'm with you on the need to end all this waste and distruction caused by capitalism. We need to get out of a money-based system, but there needs to be strategy.

I think we need to find a way to get most people on board with a political paradigm shift as a stepping stone to a shift in economic paradigm.

I believe there is a way to use capitalism against itself, to compete as the 99% Conglomerate against certain corporations for the role of "primary influencer of government".

You've probably read at least the intro to it, haven't you? It comes across as an evil concept from feedback received, but I bet those people stopped reading after a few paragraphs. About 40% of people, probably the few open-minded ones, think it's a great idea.